Ag Policy Blog

Commodity groups on Wednesday praised the introduction of legislation in the U.S. Senate that would double funding for a pair of USDA export programs.

Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., stand on opposite sides in the nomination of Sam Clovis as USDA undersecretary of research, education and economics.

USDA's Risk Management Agency shook things up a bit this year with approval of its Margin Protection insurance. It's a new product available for corn, soybeans and spring wheat for the 2018 crop. The deadline for buying the insurance is Sept. 30.

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing next Tuesday on President Donald Trump's nominations of Stephen Censky to be Agriculture deputy secretary and Ted McKinney to be Agriculture undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Monday it is too early to start making assessments on the impact of Hurricane Irma, but Perdue said estimates on agricultural losses from Harvey could be as high as $1 billion.

USDA rolled out some further organizational changes on Thursday, which the department stated would "improve customer service and maximize efficiency." The department noted the changes build on the reorganization announced last May.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., had a guest editorial Wednesday on farmpolicyfacts.org about his legislation to develop a better guest worker program for agriculture.

The American Soybean Association issued a strongly worded statement Sunday following reports that President Donald Trump is considering withdrawing the U.S. from its trade agreement with South Korea.

President Donald Trump announced more than 40 nominations and appointments to his district late Friday, including three key leadership positions at USDA.

Overall agriculture credit markets appear to be strengthening, as short-term agricultural interest rates increased slightly in 2017 and can be expected to continue to rise as the broader United States economy strengthens, an economist with farmdoc at the University of Illinois...

Starting Friday, dairy farmers can enroll for 2018 coverage in the Margin Protection Program or they can choose to opt out of the program for 2018.

The importance of the Agriculture Department's Natural Resources Conservation Service to help Illinois farmers reduce the nutrient loads that are considered a pollutant in the Gulf of Mexico were highlighted numerous times at the latest House Agriculture Committee listening...

The Government Accountability Office has added some fodder to the debate about crop insurance in a report released last week. The crop insurance industry replied on Monday.

California officials pointed out the state's farms and ranches produce 50% of the country's fruits, nuts and vegetables, 20% of the nation's milk and more than 400 different agricultural commodities. California is the largest ag-exporting state as well.

President Donald Trump once again threatened to pull out of North American Free Trade Agreement during his campaign speech Tuesday night in Arizona.

Thursday was kind of a busy afternoon in the trade arena for the Trump administration and agriculture. The administration made good on removal of some trade barriers that have troubled a few major commodities.

National Milk Producers Federation President Jim Mulhern late Monday criticized Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrsytia Freeland's speech earlier in the day, declaring that Freeland wanted free trade with the United States but also wanted "high protectionist walls when it comes...

USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service pushed back Monday against a report from the British-based newspaper, the Guardian, that USDA was "censoring" the use of the term "climate change."

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue defended President Donald Trump's nomination of Sam Clovis as the next undersecretary for research, education and economics.

A pair of separate studies and multiple corresponding articles over the past week highlight the importance of both precision agriculture and the soil-health movement without actually mentioning those efforts. These reports instead are pointing to the long-term impacts of...